Noritaka Kawaguchi, the founder of CoMix Wave Films (CWF), was recently interviewed after Toho acquired 6% of the company in October 2024. He told Japanese media outlet Toyo Keizai in May about the background to Toho’s share acquisition, what has transpired since, and his expectations for Toho, including “healthy competition” with anime streamer Crunchyroll in North America.
When asked what role he expects Toho to play in the future, Kawaguchi replied, “Crunchyroll is doing its best, but Japanese anime still hasn’t fully reached America. Toho has acquired GKIDS and also owns Toho International. I want them to continue working hard on distribution for North America and, by becoming another major force, engage them in healthy competition.“
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Table of Contents
- Toyo Keizai: CoMix Wave Films Founder Reveals How Toho Acquired Shares in the Company
- Toho and Crunchyroll's Anime Rivalry Intensifies
- It’s Not Just Toho That Crunchyroll Is Dealing With in Anime
- There’s a Lot of Free Anime for Casual Fans, but It’s Just Another Ploy for Your Subscription Dollars!
- Beyond America: The Anime Arms Race for International Eyeballs – Latin America, Incl. Brazil, India, and Germany, Too
Toyo Keizai: CoMix Wave Films Founder Reveals How Toho Acquired Shares in the Company
Other parts of the interview included what Kawaguchi believes Toho’s strengths are, the support that Toho gives to Makoto Shinkai’s films, and the new theater CWF plans to open in 2026. Kawaguchi also shared the story behind how Toho came to buy shares, revealing that he went to Toho’s Hibiya headquarters directly to offer them:
“I turned 55 last year, just after the end of ‘Suzume.’ I felt a sense of crisis that if I didn’t hand over the presidency soon, the business succession would fail. I had been looking for a candidate for over 10 years, and a talented person (current president Tomohiro Tokunaga) joined the company five years ago and matured, so I handed over the presidency last year.
On top of that, I felt the need to have various people support ‘Team Shinkai’ from outside. Originally, Animate had invested about 5% and supported us, so I thought it would be nice if there were a few more companies like that. The best balance would be a minor investment from Toho.
I was acquainted with both Yoshishige Shimatani [former president and current chairman] and Hiroyasu Matsuoka, president of Toho. Around June 2024, I went directly to Toho’s Hibiya headquarters and told President Matsuoka of my intention to sell my shares, and he immediately said, ‘Yes, please.‘”
- This section is an aside, but KADOKAWA’s CEO, Takeshi Natsuno, recently shared his own story in March of how Toho’s rival, Sony, came to increase its shares in KADOKAWA (also per Toyo Keizai).
He was having dinner with Sony president and CEO Hiroki Totoki when Totoki proposed the idea. Natsuno took this back to KADOKAWA, and the board members didn’t seem against it, so they signed an NDA with Sony. Natsuno then said, “We were also connected through LINE, so on November 19 [when the share acquisition was leaked], I was like, ‘This is bad.'” and “‘It’s out. What should we do?’,” which I thought was a little funny.
Natsuno adds that interested buyers include Kakao, which “had increased its stake to 10% while I was unaware, so I think they want it [to acquire KADOKAWA]“. Meanwhile, “Tencent has always said it wants to increase its stake, and recently increased its stake.” Given certain conditions, Natsuno is open to KADOKAWA getting acquired, as the point of management is to “pursue actions that benefit existing shareholders,” he said.
Toho will again work with CWF to distribute the live-action adaptation of 5 Centimeters Per Second, which recently revealed its October 10 release date and the new visual pictured above. Toho is also co-producing a live-action adaptation of Your Name, first announced in September 2017. Genki Kawamura, who produced the animated film, didn’t offer much room for optimism in a recent interview when Collider asked about it. He simply reiterated that J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot were still involved and that “it’s challenging to do a live-action version of feature animation.“
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Toho and Crunchyroll’s Anime Rivalry Intensifies
Cooperation and competition have long spurred the growth of Toho and Crunchyroll, which is under the Sony Group; both have played important roles in each other’s current anime success. In December 2023, Toho CEO Hiroyasu Matsuoka told Forbes that several American streamers came to acquire My Hero Academia (produced under the Toho Animation label), outbidding each other and leaving him in disbelief at the offers.
“Are we being tricked?” he recounted thinking, adding that the success of anime movies at the box office is an extension of this trend. He also noted the effect of American distributors in reducing piracy.
Sony’s Funimation (now merged into Crunchyroll) eventually won the bid for My Hero Academia‘s North American rights, helping turn around the destiny of Toho Animation, which, until then, had actually “struggled for a few years,” admitted Matsuoka to VIPO a couple of months later. The licensing revenue from the series triggered Toho to “realize that anime could be successful overseas, and we started to focus on expanding overseas.“
Several years on, after securing lucrative licensing revenue from titles like Spy x Family, Jujutsu Kaisen, The Apothecary Diaries, Kaiju No. 8, Haikyu!!, and more, and after years of Crunchyroll benefiting through exclusive first-run rights to stream most of Toho’s anime in North America, Toho now seems to be eyeing a more broad approach with streaming distribution. Toho Chief of Anime Keiji Ota said just in May, “Content won’t spread and will only be seen by those subscribers if it’s monopolized by one platform.“
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Competing with Crunchyroll on the distribution front, Toho has also acquired GKIDS, one of North America’s biggest anime distributors. While the Toho group had largely stayed out of North American movie releases of TV anime titles, it’s recently taken over North American distribution for two of the biggest IPs of recent times: My Hero Academia: You’re Next via Toho International, after Crunchyroll had distributed the prior three films (Crunchyroll distributed You’re Next outside N.A.), and the upcoming Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death – The Movie via GKIDS, after Crunchyroll and Funimation had Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Nevertheless, recent film releases for Toho Animation’s Kaiju No. 8 and Haikyu!! were handled by Crunchyroll in North America and beyond.
The little publicly known about Crunchyroll’s view on Toho’s expansion might’ve seeped through after Crunchyroll reportedly decided to hold back on promoting the DAN DA DAN anime around its October premiere; an email acquired by Bloomberg cited “ongoing acquisition discussions” as Crunchyroll’s motivation: Toho had just announced GKIDS’ acquisition that same month. GKIDS had previously secured DAN DA DAN‘s North American rights for theatrical, video, and digital download — the first time it had done so for a first-run anime after years of building up its reputation in the industry.
That acquisition was only a few months after Toho announced plans to acquire DAN DA DAN‘s anime studio and investor in the anime’s production committee, Science SARU. Netflix and Hulu (U.S. only) would also stream the anime alongside Crunchyroll.
It’s Not Just Toho That Crunchyroll Is Dealing With in Anime
It’s not only Toho that Crunchyroll has to be wary of. Naturally, there are the other major streamers, plus licensors like VIZ and REMOW seeking to level the playing field. Both of which have strong Japanese connections. VIZ has direct links with some of Japan’s biggest IPs through ownership under Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, and counts among its major licenses Bleach, One Punch Man, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, and Ranma 1/2. All except Sailor Moon (Crunchyroll only has Crystal) are entirely unavailable on Crunchyroll in North America and pull massive viewers to this day.
REMOW is also intentional about licensing its titles across a variety of subscription services for different markets, such as the rapidly growing Samsung TV Plus in North America for Your Forma (to polarizing reception). It often releases anime for free via the It’s Anime and Anime Onegai YouTube channels and its numerous FAST channels in Latin America. Among REMOW’s major shareholders is again Shueisha, of which a reported insider told Toyo Keizai in June 2023, “Sony is too strong. A monopoly by one company is scary.“
This sentiment seems to be broadly shared in Japan; HIDIVE founder John Ledford told KHOU 11 in August 2023, “The Japanese are very kind and like to keep a balance of power. They don’t want one company to have control of any given market, which was what was happening.“
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There’s a Lot of Free Anime for Casual Fans, but It’s Just Another Ploy for Your Subscription Dollars!
REMOW’s anime distribution on YouTube stems from the platform’s massive potential to increase anime awareness. YouTube ranks near the top for where people watch TV, with Nielsen announcing on May 27 that YouTube had the highest share of viewing through a TV screen among media companies for the third consecutive month, beating out Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, and Netflix. Crunchyroll likely doesn’t view this as a threat, as the spread of anime is currently a positive development, regardless of the method.
From the same report where a Shueisha insider described a potential Sony monopoly as “scary,” a Goldman Sachs analyst said, “Sony’s current management is placing importance on the number of people their business can reach,” as opposed to keeping its anime exclusively on its platform. “I think that they are hoping for the spread of anime-related business, and are therefore deliberately not closing off the value chain.“
Even given fierce competition from Netflix in the anime world, Crunchyroll’s CEO Rahul Purini believes, at least publicly (via Deadline):
“The way we look at it is that Netflix obviously has a large platform, a large addressable audience. Any time that we can expose people to anime, I think it’s better for the industry, it’s better for us. What we find is that anime fans know instantly whether they’re a fan or not. You’re either really a fan or you’re like, ‘I really have no idea what’s going on here’. So, giving people the opportunity to sample on a platform like Netflix and look at it, I think is great for the fans, for the industry, and it’s great for us, ultimately.“
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Compared to the massive audiences on Netflix and YouTube, Crunchyroll might lack the broader means to entice would-be anime fans in comparison. But as one of the few actual anime-centric streaming platforms, there are few other destinations that users will turn to when they want a deeper experience, which is exactly what Purini is banking on per his statements made in February 2024. Netflix attracts anime fans due to its widespread use; Purini shared what he believes comes after this:
“So once you’re a fan, a casual fan, and you want to try more, you come to Crunchyroll. So that’s why we also work with our partners that are in general entertainment that have broad reach, whether it is Netflix or Hulu or Amazon, to help reach this audience, engage them, and then we have the confidence that when they want a deeper experience, they’ll come to Crunchyroll.“
To this end, it routinely sublicenses anime to Netflix in addition to splitting the revenue from its properties in exchange for visibility, by, for example, letting its anime stream for free via FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channels on massive services like Pluto TV, and via operating system providers, such as smart TV and set-top box/IPTV providers, where its app can reach more households. (Crunchyroll still has some free ad-supported viewing on its own service, but ads don’t make Crunchyroll money, according to Purini in March 2024)
Crunchyroll’s app rolled out in my native United Kingdom on Sky Stream and Sky Glass in January, with Sky Q by the end of the summer (World Screen). Crunchyroll also announced a small selection of titles on the U+ set-top box service in Korea in April (per Chosun Biz). Crunchyroll SVP Mitchel Berger seemed to dismiss any plans for expansion a few miles west into Japan in late May, per Gem-Standard.
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Free, bundled, and discounted anime offerings are increasing and will likely continue to do so as long as they serve their purpose — visibility to guide steady growth for their actual subscription options. Crunchyroll’s recent decision to move all of One Piece behind its Premium tier, a year after Netflix’s ubiquitous and very successful live-action, and two years after paywalling simulcasts that were previously free after a week delay, may show what happens as this purpose is satisfied.
Plans to increase anime’s visibility rage on in markets like India and Latin America. Brazil is particularly notable.
Beyond America: The Anime Arms Race for International Eyeballs – Latin America, Incl. Brazil, India, and Germany, Too
Variety reported on May 27 that FAST services are rising rapidly in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, where Omdia Research revealed it is “now the third-biggest market for FAST services outside of the U.S. — and will climb to No. 2 ahead of Canada in revenues by 2029.” Crunchyroll is investing heavily in Brazil as one of its largest subscriber bases outside the U.S. (Purini said it was #2 in May 2024). Crunchyroll’s been present there for years, launching on Brazilian linear TV back under Otter Media ownership in 2018, but has ramped up plans in recent times.
In April 2025, Crunchyroll’s Vice President of Global Distribution and Business Development, Brian McGarvey, spoke extensively about the company’s FAST strategy and distribution partnership strategy at the NAB Show (stream link), noting Brazil’s potential. He said their FAST operations serve as a funnel to bring fans to their streaming service and have helped “really expand the reach of Crunchyroll in areas where we didn’t have quite the capability for consumers to subscribe and see to us (8:20).” Omdia Research says FAST usage in Brazil has quadrupled in four years. 45% do so via Smart TVs, compared to 20% on smartphones. Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, Netflix, Prime Video, and Globoplay are among the leaders in market share.
“Fandom around anime in Brazil and Latin America is massive because anime content has been broadcast over the airwaves for decades,” McGarvey added. “In a market like that, people have been waiting for a service like Crunchyroll, they just didn’t know we were there yet. And these partnerships enable that to happen.” McGarvey added that bundling Crunchyroll with Claro Brazil’s (telecommunications company) phone data plan has seen “amazing” acquisition levels since December 2024 (15:40), as these companies try to access younger audiences.
Crunchyroll has since agreed a partnership with Brazilian marketing agency Jotacom in May, which will be responsible for the brand’s digital strategy, content creation, and influencer actions, through “bold and disruptive communication (via Abramark).”
It’s worth noting that the push to shift anime fans onto the free/low-cost rungs of legitimate anime streaming comes amid increasing anti-piracy operations, serving to clean out the bottom-of-the-ladder streaming alternatives (piracy). You can check out a report on the Brazilian government’s Operação Animes (Operation Anime) anti-piracy program from August 2024 (via Japan’s CODA). Also see Torrent Freak’s articles on two developments in the U.S. this year to legislate against foreign piracy sites: New Bill Aims to Block Foreign Pirate Sites in the U.S. and Unveiled: New U.S. Anti-Piracy Bill ‘ACPA’ Proposes Alternative Site Blocking Path.
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India is also a major growth region as one of Crunchyroll’s top 10 markets. To spread anime awareness, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) announced a partnership with Airtel in India last year on a 24/7 Hindi-language anime channel. SPNI recently also announced plans to produce anime adapting local stories; Variety reported in March 2025 that a project tentatively named Project K is in development, representing “possibly India’s first anime series” with inspiration from mythological characters.
Meanwhile, Crunchyroll opened its second Indian office in March 2024, this time in Hyderabad, and is ramping up merch and anime dubs in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Like Sony Yay! (or in concert with Sony Yay!?), Crunchyroll is reportedly exploring anime productions based on Indian stories in collaboration with Japanese creators (per Rest of World).
It’s Not Just Toho That Crunchyroll Is Dealing With, Cour 2
Crunchyroll will have to compete in India with a dozen Japanese companies thinking along similar lines: low prices, native stories, multiple dubs, and local partnerships. Collaborating with Amazon Prime Video, a consortium of Avex Pictures Inc., Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, Bandai Namco Filmworks, ShoPro, Shin-Ei Animation, TMS Entertainment, Pierrot, Animate, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, OLM, and King Records invested in the AnimeTimes company and streaming service. Its president, Hideo Katsumata (Avex Pictures), remarked on the platform’s progress in India in May (via Gamebiz).
Katsumata, who left Sony’s Aniplex for Avex in 2012, shared on May 27 how the group has been working on moving AnimeTimes into India since 2023. He says it’s only in 2025 that it feels like expansion is actually taking place. Since its launch in 2015, Katsumata says AnimeTimes has given back 20 billion yen ($139 million) to production committees.
Like REMOW, AnimeTimes licenses anime to third-party streaming services (sometimes selling to and sublicensing from Muse and MediaLink even in India), as well as operates its own streaming service add-on on Amazon Prime Video. It partners with Amazon on a revenue-sharing basis, where they split every dollar made.
There was no mention of an MG (Minimum Guarantee), which Crunchyroll’s Purini shared his company does last month. Typically, an MG + revenue-sharing deal means that licensors/production committees will be paid a guaranteed amount. Once the streamer recoups its costs (how “costs” are calculated may vary), the licensor receives a percentage of every dollar after.
When musing on where AnimeTimes may expand next, Katsumata suggested that it would align with Amazon’s largest markets. While this includes the United States, Katsumata appears to lean towards Asia, the Global South, China, and, perhaps, most notably for the Western anime streaming climate, Germany. The whole interview is worth checking out. (They’re referring to the Daisuki service when they mention Anime Consortium Japan (ACJ) and the failed earlier attempt at an international streaming platform, similarly led by many Japanese companies.)
Source: Toyo Keizai
Featured image © K. Horikoshi / Shueisha, My Hero Academia Project © Koyoharu Gotouge / SHUEISHA / Aniplex / ufotable
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